


Sweet Bat Dreams

by JustAndrea



Category: Batman - All Media Types, The LEGO Batman Movie
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, slight mentions of death, slight spoilers for the Lego Batman movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2017-02-18
Packaged: 2018-09-25 08:36:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9811538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAndrea/pseuds/JustAndrea
Summary: Sometimes you just need a Bat-Dad to tell you that everything’s okay. And to, of course, punch the nightmares away.





	

_Life Lesson #2: There are no bedtimes!_

…Or at least, that _had_ been life lesson #2. 

But, with a kid now working with him, he supposed that he’d have to make SOME exceptions. Really though, Dick had done a pretty good job of keeping up. Even if Batman didn’t say so out loud too often, the kid was a natural fighter! That combined with his enthusiasm and youthful excitement and energy made him a great crime fighter - almost as good as Batman himself!

Unfortunately, everyone had limits, and Dick’s limits came about two weeks after he officially became Robin. Their ‘family’ had spent entirety of the last several days fighting crime from dusk until dawn, and while he would get to sleep in on most mornings to help satisfy his fatigue, there eventually came a point where that just wasn’t enough for the young hero. 

“Maybe we should call it a night?” Alfred suggested when he saw his young master practically falling asleep on his father’s shoulders. 

“No! No way! There’s still crime happening!” Batman argued back, “We can’t stop now just because _some_ of us are tired!” Dick nodded in agreement, though still couldn’t bring himself to stand up straight.

“Seriously?” Barbara shook her head. “Batman, just look at him! He needs to get to bed!”

Batman scowled. Though, as stubborn as he could be at times, the broody hero could still face facts. The thought of his son getting seriously hurt just because he ended up falling asleep in the middle of a fight wasn’t exactly a pleasant one… “Ugh, fine. I’ll go drop him off at the manor and then-”

“Nooooo,” Dick said sleepily, pushing himself off his father and forcing his eyes open, “If my dad’s fighting, I’m gonna be fighting too… I’m _*yaaawn*_  ‘m not gonna be the only one… the only one that’s not fightin’…” He yawned again as he nearly fell over, catching himself just in time. 

“Well, I suppose there is one other option,” Alfred started to say as he glanced over at Batman - who quickly figured out what he was going to suggest, and gave him a small glare for it. 

“And you know,” Barbara added, “We’ve stopped pretty much all of the bigger crimes of the night, and this city _does_ still have police officers you know. I’m sure they can handle the rest!”

“But-!” Batman started to say, but before he could argue anymore, Dick finally fell to the ground. 

“…’m okay…” he mumbled before giving another yawn. 

Batman sighed. He didn’t even have to look at his other teammates to know that there was no getting out of this one.

And so, here he was, lying in bed at least three hours earlier than usual, pouting slightly and refusing to go to sleep out of sheer principle. “This is just a one-time thing,” he told himself. After all, Batman couldn’t be called ‘the Dark Knight’ if he went home while it was still dark out! 

“Hmm… Maybe if I give him some extra dessert at supper, he won’t get tired so early… I wonder if Alfred knows how to make anything with a ton of sugar in it. Maybe some caffeine too, or-!”

The hero paused, narrowing his eyes a bit… Maybe his hearing wasn’t as sharp as a certain overrated Kryptonian’s, but his ears were still pretty well trained, and at that moment he could have sworn that he heard… something.

Almost immediately, Batman was out of bed, fists at the ready. Had some dumb criminal decided it would be a good idea to rob Wayne Manor? Maybe ninjas had broken in to try and find out his secrets! 

“Computer!” Batman ordered, his voice slightly above a whisper, “Bring up all security camera footage of the manor!” There was a long pause, and nothing happened. “…’Puter? Uh, hellooo? ‘Pu-” Oh, wait. No computers in the manor, only in the Bat-Cave. Annoyed, he rubbed his eyes. “Ugh…” Okay, maybe he was just a _little_ tired, but fatigue wasn’t going to stop the Batman! He was just going to have to find out what that noise was himself!

And so, that’s what he did. Not caring if he was just in his robe and cowl, Batman left his bedroom and started heading down the hallway, keeping an eye out for any intruders and leaving no corner unchecked. Though, the further he walked, the more normal everything seemed to be. No broken glass, no missing pieces of valuable art, no fingerprints or footsteps or-

He paused again. _The noise!_  “Okay, where are you…?” he mumbled, making sure to blend in with the shadows of the manor. It wasn’t close, but it was close enough to make out. It had sounded more like a squeak or something… Maybe like a groan, or a-

Batman froze. “Or a whimper…” 

As fast and as quietly as he could, the hero made his way towards his son’s room. As he got closer, he could hear more whimpers, as well as a couple small sniffles. Even with Dick’s door already being opened slightly (he liked having it open a crack, just for a bit of light), it took practically all of Batman’s willpower not to just kick it down.

When he did open the door though, Batman was both relieved and confused at the lack of villains he saw. The only person in the room was Dick, lying safe in his bed. …Though, judging by his expressions and the small whimpers he was still making, it wasn’t exactly a peaceful sleep.

“Oh, so that’s it…” Batman mumbled, giving a small look of pity as he walked over to the bed. “Kid… Hey, kid, wake up. Kid-”

As soon as he touched his shoulder, Dick let out a scream, throwing a punch before he even opened his eyes. Thankfully, Batman caught it, as well as the next couple punches he through. “Kid, kid! It’s me!”

“H-Huh?” The young hero opened his eyes, blinking a couple times. “…Oh… Uh, s-sorry,” he said quietly, lowering his fists.

“It’s fine,” Batman replied simply, “In fact, I’m actually kind of impressed. I mean, not everyone is skilled and awesome enough at fighting that they’re able to fight before they’ve even woken up.” 

But despite the compliment, Dick didn’t smile. In fact, he wasn’t even looking at his father now. He was just looking down at his lap, shaking a bit as he tried not to cry. 

Batman paused, needing to think for a moment on how he should continue. “So, uh… Everything alright?”

“Oh, y-yeah, I’m fine,” Dick insisted, though he didn’t even try to force a smile.

“Well, are you sure?” he asked, feeling a bit awkward, “Because, you were sort of making noises in your sleep, which isn’t really normal. And uh, you don’t exactly look like your usual happy self right now, so-”

Lip quivering slightly, Dick finally let the tears fall. For the second time that night, Batman froze up. Had he done something wrong? “Uh, h-hey, kid. It’s okay, really! Just, just tell me what’s wrong and-”

Dick said something, though between all the sobs and the fact that he was hiding part of his face in his hands, whatever he said was completely unintelligible. “Look,” Batman started to say again, raising his voice slightly, “Just tell me what’s wrong and-” Unfortunately, the tears just wouldn’t stop. 

The hero sighed. Why did being a parent have to be so complicated? For a moment, he thought about just leaving and getting Alfred to deal with it. But the more he looked at his crying son, the more determined he became to fix whatever was wrong with him himself! …Even if he still felt a bit clueless. Seriously, what could he-?

Suddenly, Batman got an idea - and scowled at the thought of it. It wasn’t exactly something he liked doing but, if it would calm Dick down, he would at least give it a try… Sitting down next to him on the bed, Batman cleared his throat.

“…I’m starting with the man in the mirror,” he sang quietly, not wanting anyone else to catch him, but just loud enough for Dick to clearly hear him, “I’m asking him to change his ways…”

Slowly but surely, the sobs were replaced with quiet sniffles. At some point during the song, Dick had started to rest his head on his father’s shoulder. Finally, when he could no longer feel his son shaking, Batman ended the song.

“…I didn’t know you could sing that well,” Dick said quietly.

“Hmph, Batman knows how to do EVERYTHING well,” Batman retorted, making the boy giggle a bit. “…So, you ready to tell me what’s wrong? …In actual English now?”

“…Y-yeah, okay,” Dick nodded after a moment, “It’s just… I, I was dreaming about…” He stopped, glancing up at his dad and looking unsure, as if he thought he would be angry at him. But, Batman silently prompted him to continue, so he did. “I was dreaming about my first family… M-My parents…”

A long silence fell between them. “…Oh,” Batman said finally. There was no anger and annoyance in it, nor was a ton of any emotion in it really. But, just by seeing his father’s face, Dick knew that there had still been a bit of an understanding tone in that small answer. 

“Y-Yeah… I didn’t know them long but, I still sorta remember them… Still sorta dream about them…”

“Yeah,” Batman nodded slightly, “I get that…”

“…But, that… that wasn’t all I was dreaming about.” The hero gave him a curious look. “After a while, I started dreaming about… you.”

Batman blinked. “Me? …Did I come in and save the dream-day?” 

“No…” Batman pouted a bit at that, but didn’t interrupt. “You just came in and, and you were there and-” Dick started to smile a bit, thinking about all the dream criminals him and his dad had fought together, as well as all the delicious dream candy and cookies they ate afterwards to celebrate, “-And we were together, and it started to be a good dream! A really good dream! …But. But then…” 

The boy’s smile quickly fell. Judging by the tears that were starting to return, Batman could easily guess how the dream ended. “Yeah well, whatever did happen next isn’t going to happen,” he said firmly - though perhaps also a bit more harshly than he intended.

“Yeah, I know,” Dick said quickly, wiping his eyes as he looked away again, “I know, I’m sorry…”

“…” Batman’s frown deepened. Slowly, his hands went to his head - or rather, what was on his head. “…Dick.”

“Yeah-?” _*pop!*_ Dick glanced up, and it took him a moment to recognize the face of his ‘other father’. It wasn’t very often he saw Batman without his cowl.

Bruce looked back at him, his eyes softening a bit. “I promise,” he told him, “I’m not going to send you away again, okay? You… You’re not going to be alone anymore, Dick. I promise.”

“…” The tears continued to form, and for a moment Bruce thought that maybe he had messed up again. But before he could do anything else, Dick smiled and leaned back into him, hugging him tightly. “…Thanks Dad.”

Slowly, Bruce smiled, returning the hug. “Yeah, yeah… No problem, kid.”

Soon enough, the hug ended, though the two of them still stayed close - only separating long enough for Batman to put his cowl back on. After a couple minutes (and a bit of hesitation), he reached up and started to gently pet the boy’s hair. …Something he remembered his own parents doing to him whenever he was upset.

As it turns out, it still worked great, and thanks to it, Dick quickly started to relax. Soon enough, he was once again fast asleep, still using his father’s shoulder as a pillow. It was a bit annoying, Batman could admit, but… he supposed he could live with it for one night. 

Giving a small yawn of his own, Batman then leaned his head back and rested it against the bird-shaped headboard of the bed. Maybe there was nothing wrong with just resting his eyes for a few minutes…

**THE END**


End file.
